Absolute zero: The song lyrics

AZ's songwriting process was pretty traditional. Brian wrote all the guitar lines. Ed wrote the bass lines. Josh rocked the drums (while tinkering with his trademark drag beat). And I wrote the lyrics (with one exception -- the song, "Today's Gift," which was written by Brian). There was no method or philosophy behind the writing process. All the songs were produced in single sittings with next to no editing. Even looking at the original pencil versions of the songs, I'm struck by how effortless the writing was. Perhaps that's the silver lining to the emotional ups and downs of romantic relationships (which were the inspiration for the songs "Trapped in Nonsense," "Barking Dog at Night," "Happy Flotsam," "Dark at Three," and "Hook Line and Sinker"). Of course, some of the tunes had other sources of inspiration: "Upside Down to Red" was shaped by my visit to East Berlin in 1987; "Today's Gift" was Brian's response to the AIDS crisis; "Arrows in the Road" was about career anxiety; "Pass/Funk" was about the pleasures of Brown's Pass/Fail grading system; "Another Time Another Day" was about the joys of writing a song in 7/8 time; and "Another Oval Hypocrite" was about being stuck in an airport with a tasteless olive.

Gavriel Rosenfeld

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Trapped in Nonsense

A freed man who wants to stay A captive man who yearns to flee Both don’t want to yet they do They live one life they make it two Logical non-sequiturs Open secrets dripless sieves Choices unavailable Kill me know let me live He’s blind to what’s in front of him Yet sees the empty void He’s simply trapped in nonsense His mind is unemployed She does and doesn’t do what’s right And helps him helpless stay That 5th amendment lady’s Got more and less to say She’s changed her mind but acts the same He’s depressed and ovrjoyed They’re simply trapped in nonsense Their minds are unemployed

Another oval hypocrite

I’m alone again And it’s for the first time

How I got here I don’t know Erie, Cleveland Ohio It’s not the place for me to stay This icy misdirected day

The hint I saw left little doubt A harbinger inside my mouth Once on tree, but now off plate A dead olive I just ate I’m alone again For the very first time Round and round in shape and form Black off branch it was torn Yet on my tongue did tasteless sit Another oval hypocrite Leave the fields of steel I knew But how long would I have to wait? If you see me I’ll be wearing blue But don’t wait up ‘cause I’ll be late Oh woe and blue is me Across the frozen island sea Get me up into the air The wind blows east and I’m not there

UPside down to red

And Checker Charlie said goodbye I stepped inside the hollow shell And saw the evergraying sky Over city now a prison cell But I get to leave today

Stone and wood stood overhead In piles upon the ground Where life and time had been sealed away Echoes had no sound But I get to leave today I heard the crack of boots afar And saw the sound which caused the split But no geese stepped today I saw the ground the sickles hit But I get to leave today The wall without a ceiling Was firm inside its bed Of earth once green but taken And turned upside down to red But I get to leave today Now we see the proud facade All integrity has ceased Deep red rule distorts the past In the showcase of the east

Oak tree

The sails in my head Blow my body on down

Oak Tree Don’t Die

The greengray shadows go into my ear But what do I hear? Oak Tree Don’t Die Root my in your soul I am tied up in your branches You are a flower You branches are in me Oak Tree Don’t Die

Another time another day

When I say Another time Another Day Oh two come on two Tell me what you want to do Oh Two Why not two? Oh three, come on three Take your body back to me Oh three Come on three Why not three? Oh four want some more Call me on the telephone Oh no four One, two, three, four Come on four Bass Stop

Barking dog at night

You see he just gave up the chase His lonely eyes and tired face Revealed for everyone to see His rejuvenated apathy A repetitious melody Droning on unceasingly Says “Images by Tyrone Green” Are not exactly what they seem Was self-surrender premature? He really did not no for sure? The marathon had grown too long The pace too slow to keep Exhausted eyes tired legs Enervation was complete Oh the burden long to bear Eyes that never blinked Water water everywhere But none of it to drink

Oh did he try too hard? Oh did it matter anyway? Oh It was out of his hands. Barking dog at night? Do he bite? Stay away

Happy flotsam (end)

I’ve just been freed from wanted bonds That never held me fast Bound in chains of broken links Captivity soon passed Released into the world alone My frustration to forget Imposed emancipation Isn’t easy to accept Canus Major lost his bone Imagine old Ma Bell without a phone A unicycle sans a wheel Aimlessness is what I feel Nexus severed in the end I hoped it not but feared it so Ebbing slowly out to see Go all bonds that binded me Flotsam jetsam in my mind Torn from orbit left to drift Disconnection...try again? No. Broken bonds will never mend

Pass/Funk (Instrumental)

Arrows in the road

I think aloud from time to time On the highest ladder lowest rung Close to failure far from view How close shall I come? I walk around them painted white Curving, bending left and right Still more than traffic they direct But lives as well (in retrospect) Where do I go? Arrows in the road Though low I stand on skyward pine I gaze above a huddled line Which struggles so to catch a glimpse Of what the day will try and rinse From tainted lives so desperate That in the road men think and sit Of arrows few that they can see Predict a cyclic destiny

today's gift

Read it in the paper Hear it all the times Isn’t it only theirs Or could it now be mine? An increased paranoia justified too many times Wait, watch, and wonder The fear will take your mind Can’t trust the ones you love Can love the ones you trust Did you get too close? Did you try to prevent? Did you get too close? Is this your punishment? Did you get too close? Will you start to resent? Can you hold, can you hold on? Will you side with the ones who seem wrong? Will you try, try to look away? Just to hide for another day?

Dark At three

It's dark so outside nowThe sky has been sewn shutNo shadows will be seen todayIt's almost three o'clock

Although impatiently expectedThere comes no rain at allLess light to see objectivelyStill darker with the fall

Minds grow dim with approach of nightVision blurs concurrentlyWe are blinded by the darknessUntil we close our eyes to see

The past has seen my blindnessBut now the night avoids my gazeThen why so prematurelyIs it dark this nervous day?

The clouds are thereThey have to beBut where is the rain?And the moon?